


Zero Epilogue

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: M/M, hurt-comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-03-17
Updated: 2002-03-17
Packaged: 2017-11-01 07:04:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/353508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Self-explanatory title.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Zero Epilogue

## Zero Epilogue

by Lunar Plutonian

[]()

* * *

**ZERO EPILOGUE**

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with the "Smallville" television show, and any copyright violation is purely unintentional. Since in a previous story, I mentioned the effect of this episode on Lex and Clark's relationship, I thought I should write this pre-quel for the "Car-Bot" AU. 

The grand opening of the renovated Talon coffeehouse had been a success. Lex should have been relieved, but he wasn't. His relationship with Clark may have been damaged beyond repair, and all the money and power in the world couldn't fix that kind of damage. Nobody was in the old theater building now except himself, Clark, and Lana, and standing alone in the manager's office, Lex pondered over what his future with Clark might be, if indeed there would be any such thing. 

As Lex was leaning against the metal desk lost in his musings, Clark walked into the office with that stricken look he had on his face that entire night. Lex had a bad feeling about this. 

"So, Lex, was Club Zero a big part of your life, back then?" 

Damn, Lex thought, what does Clark know? "You might say that, Clark." 

"That must have been quite a lifestyle you were living, then." Clark looked away. 

"What is it? What's wrong?" 

"After I let you out of that straight-jacket and the police were on their way, I did some wandering around in the back-rooms while you were sitting on that couch in a daze." 

Oh, SHIT! "And what did you see there?" 

"That place must have been closed after a major bust by the cops. Those rooms were a silent and disturbing testament to what went on there. Discarded condom wrappers. Needles. I think I might have even seen a broken crack-pipe in the corner of one of those rooms." 

The hurt and disappointment in Clark's eyes shot through Lex's heart like a poison arrow. "Yeah, the place looked pretty tame to the casual visitor, but the truth of it was anything but. The name was supposed to mean 'Zero Consequences.'" But at that moment, Lex felt as if he were about to be smacked with a consequence of epic proportions. 

"There's no such thing as zero consequences." 

"No. Shit." 

Clark was silent for a few moments as Lex waited for the hammer-blow that would shatter his world forever. "After what happened with our herd getting killed, my parents want me to 'cool things off' with you. And they might be right." 

Lex steeled himself for the inevitable. 

"But I have different ideas about what's right." Clark continued, slowly walking over to Lex and looking his confused friend in the eye. The harsh judgement Lex was seeing in Clark's eyes was giving way to a look of tender concern that didn't seem entirely appropriate, given the circumstances. "I know you thought the people you hung around with at that place were your friends, and that's why you were willing to cover things up the way you did. Even if you really did shoot that guy, that doesn't matter so much, I guess, because he was running at you with a knife in his hand after stabbing you once already. But what does matter to me is the fact that those people weren't really your friends, and I think you know that now. It's because you felt so alone that you felt like living that way." 

Lex's confusion was turning into a full-fledged daze. "What are you saying to me, Clark?" 

"That until me you've never really had any true friends. And I still want to be that friend, because looking around in those back-rooms told me how much you need a real friend. I won't abandon you, Lex, ever." 

Clark then grabbed Lex into a full-fledged hug, which Lex eagerly returned despite the certainty that he was dreaming. He had also thought he had been dreaming when he had looked up from that couch that had mysteriously appeared to break his fall and seen Clark gazing down at him with that loving concern that defied all comprehension. Amanda's insane brother had been lying unconscious on the upper level, leading Lex to the conclusion that one of Clark's extraordinary abilities was supersonic motion. His angel-boy had saved him again. And now here was Clark pledging Lex his undying loyalty after the insane ex-convict had somehow gotten a hold of a few barrels of LuthorCorp toxic materials from the fertilizer plant and poisoned the Kents' land, killing their herd of cows. Fortunately, the haz-mat clean-up teams had arrived there soon enough to contain the horrendous mess before irreparable damage was done to the Kents' land. 

Being enclosed in Clark's embrace was making Lex feel all warm and giddy inside. He suddenly became aware of the proximity of his lips to Clark's face, but shoved that thought back into himself. This sweet, beautiful, perfect boy was someone of whom Lex knew he must never, ever take advantage. For the first time in many years, Lex felt tears welling up in his eyes, but he shoved that impulse back down inside himself, too. 

Leave it to Lana Lang to walk into the office at exactly that moment carrying the cash-box. "Lex, I counted our receipts for the night and . . . oh, excuse me! I didn't mean to walk in on a private moment, I just . . ." 

Clark and Lex immediately broke apart. Clark was looking away, but instead of his usual blush, his face actually seemed a bit pale. The poor boy seemed truly mortified as Lana walked over to the desk with the cash-box and put it into a locking drawer on the bottom-left. Lana noticed Clark's reaction as she went over to the coat-hanger stand to retrieve her obnoxiously pink winter-coat. "Oh, Clark, now don't be embarrassed. I think it's so cool that you're so supportive of Lex after the hell he's been through these past few days. I sure can't imagine Whitney ever being that openly caring if one of his friends ran into trouble that serious!" Lana put on her coat, and to Lex's surprise, it actually seemed for once as if there was something going on inside that pretty cheerleader head of hers. "And speaking of that . . . well, Lex . . . I just wanted to say how sorry I am for giving you all that attitude when we found that severed hand. I know how horribly selfish I must have sounded . . . it's just . . . well, it was a chopped-off, decomposing body-part! How are you supposed to react to something like that?" 

For Clark's sake, Lex bit back the urge to say, Well, Lana, I suppose I should give you credit for not using that as a pretext for going off about your meteor-pancake parents! "That's okay, Lana. We were all pretty shaken up that night. But I don't think you need to worry about it. People in Smallville seem to have a built-in forgetting mechanism for all the strange stuff that goes on here." 

"Gee, I wish I knew how they did it, because I sure can't. Anyway, I'll leave you two alone to your male-bonding moment." This time, Clark blushed. 

"Good night, then, Lana," Clark finally said. "I hope you won't say anything to anybody about . . ." 

Lana smiled her gratingly perky smile as she gathered up her pink purse from the desk and said, "No, Clark, of course not." With that, she finally left to go home for the night, much to Lex's relief. 

After a few minutes, Lex looked at Clark and said, "You have to be the most amazing guy in the world, standing by me after what happened with your family's farm. I know your father has his pride and all that, but whatever you need to keep the farm afloat while you deal with this disaster, he only has to name it. Money is no object. And tell him I don't blame him at all for hating me for this. Those barrels came from my plant, and they were my responsibility, as my own father has made abundantly clear to me. And it was because of my fucked-up past that this happened to your family. I don't how those thugs got the resources together to do the things they did, but when I find the plant employees they bought off, those employees will be going to jail for a very long time." If I have anything to say about it, Lex thought, preferably to a maximum-security facility where new inmates are well-advised to refrain from dropping the soap in the shower! 

Clark looked down sadly. "Yeah, dealing with this disaster is going to be a lot of work, but it's not your fault, Lex. I just wish I could convince my parents of that. I'm going to have to act like I'm distancing myself from you for a while, plus there's going to be a hell of a lot for me to do on the farm this month. But I'm still your friend, Lex. Don't let appearances fool you about that." 

I love you so much, Lex thought, and I always will. "Don't worry, I won't. And I'll always be here for you, too. I may not always be the most trustworthy guy in the world, but you can trust me on that." 

Clark responded with that crooked smile while looking at Lex from under his eyelashes. Sometimes Lex wondered if Clark knew how he felt and was looking at him that way to see what kind of response it would get. But that was another one of Clark's secret's, one that he would have to tell Lex when and if he felt ready to do so. That's how it had to be when you really loved somone, and somehow Lex knew that Clark realized that about friendship and secrets, too. 


End file.
